CORVALLIS, Ore.– Two players Oregon State fans are looking forward to seeing are starting running back Storm Woods and wide receiver Brandin Cooks; two of the offense’s biggest weapons, and also two of the closest friends.

“That’s like my brother, you know,” said Woods, “me and Brandon are real close. That’s a lifelong friend, a lifelong brother.”

Woods is a redshirt freshman, and Cooks is a true sophomore, so they are in the same class. They are also roommates, and are both very good at catching the football.

An interesting part of their friendship was noted early in fall camp, when they got they same haircut.

“I got my [haircut] first since he was nervous,” said Cooks, “so I sent him a picture and then he got his.”

And now they have the same hair color.

“It originally started when we were watching ‘Juice,’ the movie with Tupac [Shakur] in it, and we like his haircut so we decided to get it.”

The closeness of their friendship has opened them up to some good-natured ribbing from teammates, but has also drawn the admiration of the coaching staff.

“They’re pretty goofy together,” joked quarterback Sean Mannion, “I’m not as close with them as they are with each other.”

“They’re hilarious,” said wide receivers coach Brent Brennan, “everyone gives them a hard time and they don’t even care, that’s how close they are. They’re just great friends. Storm is always telling everybody how much faster [Cooks] is than [Markus Wheaton]. And it’s kind of fun since they’re both young players in our program, and both good players.”

Cooks and Woods are close, but that doesn’t mean they don’t like to compete.

“[Video games] we’re competitive; pushups at night we’re competitive; eating we’re competitive,” said Woods, “on our bye week I think we’re going to challenge each other to a swim competition. He thinks he can swim better than me.”

Oregon State would be fortunate to have Woods and Cooks’ chemistry spread throughout the entire offense. If the fall serves as any indication, both are primed for breakout seasons.